Where Chefs can talk tattoos and Tattooers can talk food

Love is in the air, Lizette Gonzalez and RL Boyd are getting married! Why is that of any relevance to knives and needles, you might ask? Because they met through this blog! Lizette is an uber-talented baker and I interviewed her last year. We follow Chef RL Boyd on instagram and have featured some of his mouth-watering food photos. RL saw Lizette’s Knives and Needles blog interview, took one look at her beautiful photos and requested her friendship on IG. IG led to Fb friending which led to chats, long phone conversations and finally leading up to a love at first sight meeting (Lizette lives in Vegas, RL in D.C.)!
Please check out LIzette, RL, their food (respectively), and of course their tattoos!
Congratualtions Lizette and RL, we wish you an eternity of happiness and love!!

I know Mathias Gfroerer from my days working in Dubai. He is a truly talented chef, the type of chef that was simply born to cook. I remember listening to him and his now wife, Rebecca, talk about restaurants and types of European dining one afternoon. Even though we were all so young then, they had so much knowledge on dining, restaurants and hospitality all around. The conversation that day left an impression on me, inspired me to look at dining in a different way. I wanted to learn more!

Besides running his wildly successful organic restaurant, Gutskueche, in Tangstedt, Germany, Mathias indulges in another (rather new) hobby- getting tattooed. He states that chefs get tattooed because they tend to live this short life to the fullest, in a pure and unadulterated way. Basically chefs are creative buttheads who live life the way they without much qualms to social stigmas (my words!)

Mathias has kindly given me some amazing photos of his! He has one tip for novice chefs: Stay tasty, never stop tasting!

I hope you enjoy this tiny peek into an amazing chef’s career, life and of course tattoos!

Check out his photos below….

Cheers and thank you, Mathias!!!!

Check out more of Mathias and his restaurant at the website, http://www.gutskueche.de, there seems to be tons going on from seminars to cooking classes- it may just blow your mind!

Ceiran Thomas has quite an impressive resume, having worked at some of the best restaurants in Wales, where he currently lives. I got excited when he approached me about doing an interview as I have always wanted to visit that area of England! I have heard its beautiful and I am curious about the local food. Ceiran has not only worked in the best places with some of the hardest kitchens in Wales, but was the head chef of a team of 40 at the London Games in 2012. He got started cooking with his grandmother as a child and loves butchery and considers himself a fishmonger.

Read more on Ceiran just below…. Plus his mouth-watering recipe!

Where do you work now?

I’m between restaurants at the moment I’m awaiting the opening of a new restaurant next month with one of the great British chefs I’m currently privately teaching.

What got you into getting tattooed?

I think the beauty and art of it I’ve Always been creative and expressed myself and I think it’s a beautiful way to do it.

What was your first tattoo?

My first tattoo was a rib tattoo of the welsh national anthem it’s close to my heart I’m a patriot hearing it sung brings a tear to my eye.

What is your favorite thing to cook?

I love cooking fish it’s amazing nothing better than fresh fish it’s just magical especially strait off the line just brings you so much closer to nature. Just simple

What is the food in Whales like?

Its Wales and its hearty and fresh we have a lively coast so the seas are abundant with shellfish and the like we also have a very green countryside full of the best organic veg and healthy cattle, wales is famous for its lamb

Do you ever go to any tattoo conventions?

I’ve only ever been to tattoo conventions in Cardiff ( Cardiff tattoo and toy convention I received a beautiful dot-work sleeve and Cardiff Halloween bash where I received an epic neo traditional calf tattoo and some scarification off a legend Dr Evil)

Who do you admire in the tattoo industry?

I can’t pick and choose in the tattoo industry to be honest I’ve seen beautiful work from world class artists and just as good from local apprentices it’s not about who’s been tattooing for a lifetime it’s about the vision of the artist

Who do you admire in the culinary industry?

In the food industry there’s many to name a few

James Sommerin

Thomas Keller

Raymond blanc

Michel roux jr

The roux brothers

Tom kerage

What will your next tattoo be?

My next tattoo will either be my lower knuckles or my kneecap tattooed with a neo traditional rose

What were the London Games like?

The London games were just alive the only way I can describe it just non stop I worked 17 hour days strait for the games and then 13 hours a day in the rest days between the Olympics and the Paralympics and then back to 17 in the Paralympics it was full on but I miss it

Ceiran has generously given us one amazing recipe, check it out and let the hunger pains begin!

Crab and Scallop Lasagne with Chive Bureè Blanc

.400g fresh white scallop meat (white only)

.480ml fresh double cream

.Pinch of course sea salt and cracked black pepper

.430g white crab meat

.aprox.500g fresh Pasta dough

For the sauce –

Small handful of chives

Block of unsalted butter (cubed)

40ml white wine

40ml white wine vinegar

2 shallots

20ml cream

Roll out pasta sheets and rest between cling film sheets in the fridge

(Can you ready made sheets but these much be cooked aldenté before you build the lasagne)

Pick threw your crab meat for any shell.

Blitz your scallop meat in a food processor and add your crab meat.

Slowly add your cream and seasoning, put in a piping bag and rest in the fridge for 10 minutes

prepare your lasagne in metal rings

First layer a pice of pasta cut to size in the bottem then pipe your scallop mix about 10-15 mm and add another sheet then another 10-15mm of mix then a final sheet

To cook steam over boiling water for 8-10 mins with a lid

For the sauce

Dice your shallots fine

Add your white wine and vinegar to a pan and reduce add shallots and reduce till there is allmost no liquid in the pan then add cream and reduce further till thick move to a low heat and slowly whisk in your butter cubes

Chop your chives and add to the sauce

Garnish with wild mushrooms if available and fine and micro herbs

Thank you Ceiran!! Incredible food and great tattoos!!

You can catch more of Ceiran and his food on his Instagram, @theinkchef

If you would like to be featured on our blog, please email us or tag us!!

Grime, Grime, Grime. One of the best tattoo artists in the world! On the slim chance you have not heard of him, he has a shop called Skull and Sword in San Francisco. He is widely known for being a renaissance man of tattooing (and art in general!). What I mean by that is that man consistently crushes any tattoo or style of tattoo requested of him no matter what it is. Grime has created his own style in the process, one that cannot be imitated or replicated although many have tried and failed. Basically you have to see his work for yourself to understand what I am talking about and I highly recommend checking him out!

But today that is besides the point. Today we are talking Grime and his food! Mr. Grime can also cook (…renaissance man…) and he occasionally sends me photos of his dishes. They always look amazing. The other day he sent me a particularly mouth-watering photo of his pan-fried salmon filet with an oven-roasted yam and sautéed spinach garnished with raisins, pine nuts and a balsamic glaze. That photo had me seriously second-guessing what I had already decided to cook for dinner that night. You can never go wrong with simple yet sophisticated! Check out a few great recipes and some of Grime’s tattoo work below… Cheers!

I will try my best to recreate Grime’s recipes for you all. Try this dish for your next dinner, you will love it!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Poke a few holes in each yam and place on a foil-lined baking dish. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until tender all the way through. When finished, place on the plate with the salmon and spinach. Split them down the middle length-wise and top with butter and salt and pepper.

Pan-fried Salmon

1 Side of fresh, wild-caught salmon (skin on), cut into filets about 3-3 1/2 inches wide (wrap the extra pieces tightly in cling film and freeze for next time)

3-4 TBLS Olive oil or avocado oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat up oil on a frying pan (one with a cover) on med-high. Meanwhile dust salmon filets with salt and pepper on both sides. When the oil is well-heated (but not burning or smoking), carefully place salmon filets skin-side down. Turn heat down to medium and cover pan with the lid. Cook for about 7-10 minutes on medium. Take the lid off and turn up the heat again to med-well to crisp the skin for a minute. With a spatula, remove salmon from the pan and place on a plate with the spinach and yam.

Balsamic Glaze

1c Balsamic vinegar

1 TBLS Maple Syrup

1/2 TBLS Dijon mustard

Combine all ingredients and bring them to a boil in a small sauce pan. Reduce heat and simmer for about 12-15 minutes, letting the mixture reduce until it becomes thick (it should lightly coat the back of a spoon). Set aside and let cool, it will thicken more as it cools. Spoon over salmon, spinach and yam!

Sautéed Spinach

20-30 oz Fresh spinach leaves

2 TBLS butter

2 TBLS Olive oil or avocado oil

1/8c raisins

1/8c roasted pine nuts

Heat up butter and oil in a medium-sized skillet. After butter is melted, add the spinach and sauté until the spinach is starting to wilt. Toss in the raisins and pine nuts and cook until the spinach is fully wilted. Season with salt and pepper and serve with salmon and yam.

Below are some fine examples of Grime’s work, and one of him racing the other day on his bike!!

My new and dear friend, Alessandra Palotti is a great tattoo artist and a great cook! Alexandra is Italian from Bologna, Italy where she has been tattooing for over 6 years. Alessandra and her husband, Koji Ichimaru, run their private studio in Bologna, what a beautiful place to live, definitely on my go-to list!

Alessandra and I got to cook together one day. I made beef Milanese and she made Bolognese sauce. I had never had traditional, authentic Bolognese before and had a completely different idea in my head on how it is made. I learned so much from her that day.

Here is a mix of Alessandra’s tattoo photos, her recipe and photos of the process. Please enjoy and try out her recipe, it will become a staple in your culinary repertoire!

Alessandra’s Bolognese Sauce

makes about 4 servings

To be served with pasta of your choice and garnished with a good grated parmesan cheese!

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

2 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

1/4-1/2c olive oil

1 pound ground beef

1/2 tsp sugar

salt and pepper if desired

26-27 oz crushed tomatoes

15-26 oz water

2-3 TBLS butter

Brown carrots, celery, onion over medium heat in the olive oil for about 10 minutes.

Add the ground beef and cook until the beef is cooked. Then add the basil, salt and pepper (if desired) and sugar. Let it simmer for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes and 1/2 the water.

Let the sauce lightly simmer for about 2-3 hours. If the water starts to evaporate too much, add more water little by little.

You will want to end up with a very thick sauce, you want most of the water to be reduced in the cooking process. Add the butter at the end, before serving. Eat with pasta and parmesan. Enjoy!!

Grazie Mille, Ale!! Thank you for coming out to visit and for showing us all this amazing recipe!!!!!!!! We can’t wait till you come out next time!

You can catch more of Alessandra on her Instagram, @ale1126

If you are a tattooed chef or foodie tattooer and want to be featured on this blog or Instagram, email us at knivesandneedles@gmail.com

We are back!! After a couple months break, Knives and Needles Blog is back! Sometimes even bloggers need a break to recharge with new material!! And what better way to get back into things than with Jairo Acevedo!!!! He is one talented and tattooed chef, so read on and check out his food and tattoos….. You will not regret it!

Molly: Tell us a bit about yourself, please include what you are doing now

Jairo: I’m a 27 yr old chef from Boston Mass. I’ve been here in Los Angeles for about 6 months now and I am currently the Personal Chef for Athletic Gaines, a professional athlete training group. The Head Trainer, Travelle Gaines, trains the athletes and I make their meals certain nights a week if not every night. Right now we are in the middle of a 8 week training camp for The NFL Scouting Combine. It’s been an absolute blessing to be able to move out here to California on a limb and be where I am.

M: What got you into cooking?

J: I have a friend who is no longer in the industry and he would tell these great stories about work and a few horror stories, “And this happened and that and then we sat this many people…” etc. I was getting into trouble and I asked him to help me with a job and he got me hip to this cool ass chef named Cliff. He taught me so much and threw me under his wing, he let me crash and burn and never gave up on me. I was still fucking around, 20 yr old tatted working the grind of the kitchen. I fell in love with the grind and the partying. Mostly the partying but the grind drove me.

M: What is your specialty?

J: I like to mess around with odds and ends and whole animal eating (nose to tail), I don’t go to far off the map people are sometimes turned off when you start talking sweet breads and calfs brain or pigs tails. So I try to do simple things like veal breast with a parsnip puree and a raspberry jam. Which I’ll show you how to make later on. I like to eat Italian so I like to cook italian inspired dishes.

M: When did you get your first tattoo and what was it?

J: I was 14 when I got my first tattoo. I got my mothers name. She beat my ass. So I got more tattoos. To this day she still beats my ass. Love you ma.

M: What made you decide to get tattooed?

J: I wanted to be cool. I saw a whole bunch of older kids with them so I’m like “I’m cool get me inked up.” So we got some ghetto ass jail bird to tatt me up with a guitar string I bought at guitar center.

M: What do you love about getting new ink?

J: When its over.

M: What do you not like about getting new ink?

J: Getting it done.

M: Do you ever go to any tattoo conventions? If so, which ones? Did you have fun?

J: I’ve been to 1 in Boston, I brought my daughter and we did a little photo shoot. I had barley any ink and she got her first sticky tattoo. It was a cool experience to be there with my kid. My boy Keith miller ( Gippa Mills on Facebook) was at one of the booths. I didn’t get tattoos that day but my kid did, it was fun.

M: Do you read any tattoo magazines? If so, which ones?

J: I wouldn’t say I read tattoo magazines, I’d say I browse thru them. I’m a visual person I don’t really read because my A.D.D sky rockets when I try to focus on reading. but I like tattoo society and skin art and inked. I like coloring books like dora the explorer those are a huge hit in my house.

M: Why do you think so many chefs are heavily tattooed?

J: You know I think it has something to do with the fact you rarely interact with guests. it also add personality and toughness. to be in the kitchen you have to be a “Hard Body” know how to take care of business. I think you wouldn’t want to fuck with the chef who’s tatted to the gils. I do it because i love tattoos I love art and fashion and I’m just super artistic, it goes hand in hand.

M: Any cooking advice for a novice?

J: This is not a paycheck job your in my kitchen be here to work and hustle. #HARDBODIES only. Master your craft, and listen watch and do. Your title is ” I do whatever the fuck chef asks me to do” sometimes you’ll be looking for dingle berries in dry storage and other you’ll be breaking down a whole pig and learning charcuterie. I beat you because I love you.

Jairo was amazing enough to share a specialty of his, check it out and try it yourself!!

Ryan Zale is a very talented chef. He also loves tattoos! I got Ryan to write some stuff about himself the other day. Continue reading and see what makes this amazing chef tick! Plus he has a terrific recipe at the end…. A serious must try!

I am the Executive Chef at the Local Chop and Grill House in Harrisonburg VA. I work hard and play hard, haha. I love disc golf, gardening, home brewing, eating weird stuff and the Pittsburgh steelers. I grew up on a dairy farm in Ohio so fell in love with farm concept early on. My grandmother and mom were good cooks, so I learned a lot from them, but there always something about food that gave my pleasure in life, so I cooked a lot on my own.

Experimenting, trying different flavor profiles, cooking for friends late-night wasted, that kinda of stuff. I went on to culinary school right out of high school knowing I wanted explore this crazy lifestyle. I really enjoy the snout to tail concept, utilizing the entire animal. Butchering is great, and the farm to table concept is what I’m really into. My first tattoo is terrible, I was 15 and it’s a stupid tribal piece with an eye ball in the middle of it. I love the creative side of artists, the passion they have. I think it makes are industry very similar, they get a human I get an animal and we transform it into something beautiful. As for tattoo artists, Andrew Connor is my favorite artist. He’s local and he’s vegan so its fun when he comes in to dine with us.

I get to run around and make him vegan coursed meals on the fly. I don’t really read any tattoo magazines usually just cook books and food related magazines. The next tattoo I’m getting will be a Tablespoon Teaspoon measuring on the palm of my hand, I thought it makes sense! Because this a crazy industry, and you have be little nuts to do what we do for years, and inking yourself up kinda all goes as one. But tattooing and cooking are both forms of art so theirs that tie together as well.

What Chef doesn’t want a pig tattoo on them, haha. And I have never lost a job because of having them. As for future tattoos, I’d stick with Andrew Connor. He’s a friend we have a lot in common and I feel confident with his ability’s, he’s amazing!! A dream afternoon would be me, a BBQ suckling pig, glass of whiskey and watching the Rolling Stones play in my back yard.

I am honored today to write a post about my friend and foodie tattoo artist, Cindy Stroemple. She is a great person (one of the funniest women I know!), an amazing tattooer, and someone I am always happy to see! Read on and do not forget to check out her mouth-watering recipes!

My name is Cindy and I became a tattoo artist in 1980. I was a regular 18 year old getting tattooed and hanging out at the tattoo shop almost everyday one summer before work…I worked as a waitress. I got tattooed on a regular basis and became good friends with my tattoo artist. Before I new what was happening I was asked if I wanted to learn how to tattoo. I said yes and here I am 32 years later. I had a talent that I didn’t even know existed. I consider myself one of the lucky ones because I got to apprentice under the late Peter Poulos. He was like a second father to me at the time. I had moved to Denver as a young teenager from Miami Florida and that’s where my career started. My first tattoo I did was Woody Woodpecker on an old friend. I was lucky he had a lot of friends that I was able to practice on. There were very few female tattoo artist when I started. It was pretty much a predominantly male profession and was kinda tough in the beginning, but I learned to be tough and learned how to gain respect as a woman in the industry. From there I moved to NY to continue to work for Peter Tat 2. After 15 years I decided to move back home to Miami and ended up working at Tattoos by Lou. I ended up meeting the love of my life there my husband and moved to Cleveland and now I still tattoo and manage Tattoo Faction.

I’ve always loved to cook and do so for my family. I’m not a fancy cook and don’t usually use cook books to cook. I work full time so I generally stick with simple traditional cooking. Simple,quick and easy. I pretty much like to grill all my food but I live where it snows and gets cold so I can’t always use the grill. I cook whatever strikes my fancy at the time. Meatloaf,Ribs,Steaks,Chicken and more in winter Chili,Chicken and Dumplings and so much more.

I’m not into fancy cooking so I don’t follow the food shows or chefs. I learned to cook watching my Mother and Grandmother and they were simple cooks. Not like the chefs today but I do enjoy all the fancy foods when we go out. I leave the fancy cooking for my times out to dinner. I’ve only tattooed a couple of chefs in my career. But nothing that I really remember as far as food tattoos. I have noticed a lot of chefs are heavily tattooed and probably because they work in an industry that doesn’t shun tattoos. I personally believe more people would be heavily tattooed if their industry allowed it. But that’s just how it goes. Tattoos are still not always excepted in the work place.

The saying….. A way to a persons heart is through their stomach. What does that make me think of? My Dad. It’s what I always think when I hear that…haha!!

Ribs…..

Baby Backs 2-3 slabs

Cut into thirds per rack

Place on a rack inside a heavy duty metal baking pan. Put about 1/2 inch of water in pan or just below the ribs on the rack. Cover with heavy duty aluminum foil. Bake at 350 for 2 1/2 hours or until tender. Can check on them half way through if not sure how long to cook.

Once done in oven put on grill with your favorite BBQ sauce for 5-10 minutes flipping just to get that just grilled taste!!

10 sm-med redskin potatoes washed and diced into cubes. Thin layer olive oil on cookie sheet place potatoes on cookie ah get sprinkle with garlic salt/powder and parsley flakes. Bake at 350 for approximately one hour or to your liking as far as crispness. Flip every 10-15 minutes throughout the hour.

Corned Beef

Place on rack in heavy duty metal baking pan with about 1/2 inch water in bottom of pan….season to your liking. Cover with heavy duty aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 50 min. per pound!!

Cabbage and Noodles

Coat bottom of frying pan that has a lid that fits tight with olive oil. One small head of cabbage or half of larger one chopped. Place in pan with oil and season with salt/pepper crushed red pepper optional for a little kick. Cover and simmer til cabbage is cooked down browned and stir frequently while cooking. In separate 2qt pot boil 1/2 reg size bag of egg noodles…drain and add to cabbage mix well. Can add a meat to mix optional and make a meal in one…kielbasa, brats etc!!

Shawn Brown. Hardcore legend. Amazing tattooer. All-around cool guy. I had the honor of meeting Shawn and his wife, Michelle, a beautiful and talented photographer. Every time we hang out its continual laughs and high adventures (Japan <3)! Shawn lives in Washington DC and used to be the singer of legendary bands Dag Nasty, Jesus Eater, and Swiz. He is currently singing for Red Hare, they are definitely worth checking out! Shawn tattoos out of Tattoo Paradise, owned by Matt Knopp, so if you are ever in the DC area, you need to stop in and get a tattoo! In the meantime, read on and check out Shawn, his work and his mouth-watering tri-tip and vegetarian recipes!!

Marinaded Tri-Tip

Chimichurri

2 bunch cilantro ( about 1 cup firmly packed)

2Tbsp fresh oregano

2Tbsp chopped onion

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

2Tbsp red wine vinegar

1Tbsp lime juice

1tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Cut about 1 inch from bottom of parsley and add to food processor with rest of ingredients.

About 4-5 to for pulses should do depending on if you like chunky or fine. Let stand for about 1-2 hrs in fridge. Remove, let it come to room temp and serve. Enjoy!

You can keep in fridge for a week or store in a ice tray in freezer. This way you will have

Portioned cubes for later use.

Wood grilled Tri -Tip

2 pound tri-tip steak

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary leaves

Lemon juice

Sea Salt & pepper

chimichurri ( for serving, see above for recipe)

Mix olive oil,garlic,rosemary, and lemon juice together,add to a bowl set aside.

Pat dry Tri-tip with a paper towel,rub down with salt and pepper followed by the previously

Made marinade. Let marinade in fridge for about 1hr, remove, and get your grill ready.

Let meat come to room temp before placing on grill. This way the meat will cook even.

I like wood charcoal. I fill my chimney with lump charcoal, start and let the coals go until they are red hot. I then place charcoal to one side of grill.

Let the grill heat for about 15 min. Clean your grates and rub with oil.

Place tri-tip over coals, cover and cook for 5 min. Rotate the steak to a 90 degree angle,cover with meat over coals and cook 5 more minutes.

Flip the tri-tip and grill over coals and cook

same as above, rotating once at 90 degrees during cooking. Each side should be a deep brown with great grill marks.

I use a thermometer to reach an internal temp of 125 degrees, this is a good medium rare.

Remove the tri-tip for grill to your cutting board,tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

When it’s time to serve remember to cut against grain. Serve with your chimichurri.

Marinated and grilled tofu

Take a 1pound block of firm or better yet extra firm tofu,freeze and then thaw.

When thaw squeeze water from tofu and then pat dry with a paper towel.

Cut into cubes or slices.

I then make a marinade. It’s usually a soy sauce or teriyaki based one but you can use whatever you like. I let marinade for about to 2 sometimes overnight depending on time or

How much flavor I want in the tofu.

I like I mentioned above I love wood!

Use lump charcoal,fill my chimney and let coals get red hot. ( you can use the coals from the above recipe. If you are cooking for veg-vegan folks you should clean the grate well and wipe down with apple cider vinegar or change grate.) when coals are red place to one side of grill.

Cook tofu over coals for about a minute,rotate 90 degrees and cook another minute.

Flip tofu and cook same as above. Remember to keep an eye on tofu! Burnt tofu sucks! Move tofu away from coals to the cool side,open top and bottom vents,cover and cook 8- 10 minutes more.

Remove from grill and serve.

There are many marinades and bbq sauces you can try with this.

Experiment!

When using bbq sauce I like to add it to the tofu at the end of cooking on the indirect side by basting and letting cook for an additional 5 min.

Grilled vegetables

Green beans

Asparagus

Cauliflower

Onion

Beets

Cherry tomato

Brussel sprouts

Sea Salt

Pepper

Red chili flakes

Olive oil balsamic vinegar

Try and measure out vegetables in even proportion ,mix together with oil,vinegar,red chili, sea salt and pepper in a bowl. I then grab my grill basket and place it over a medium hot grill. I then place vegetables in basket and place on grill for 5-7 minutes toss and flip for a total of 10-20 minutes depending on the type vegetables used or how done I want them.

Remove from grill and serve.

Remember if you still have hot coals you can still use them to cook with!

Its rare to find a vegan chef, let alone a really good one! This is Knives and Needles first vegan chef feature, Mary of Nom Yourself! Her food looks amazing and she loves tattoos; so please read, enjoy and be inspired to step out of your animal-product box!

Molly: Tell me about yourself, please include what you are doing now

Mary: I am a 27 year old vegan cook living in NYC. I am currently developing recipes for my second cookbook that is currently untitled, and promote my first cookbook Nom Yourself – The Cookbook. I run nomyourself.com and advocate home cooking.

Molly: I always want to advocate to cook at home as well, especially these days. Have you always been vegan?

Mary: I haven’t. I actually became vegan 14 months ago while living in Baltimore, Maryland. I started teaching myself how to cook and found that adding meat and dairy to my dishes was actually taking away from the flavor of all these amazing fruits and vegetables I was buying from the farmers market. Most people find veganism through animal rights or health reasons. I found it through cooking.

Molly: Very cool! How did you get into developing Nom Yourself?

Mary: I started posting pictures of the food I was making on my personal Instagram account. Then a friend suggested I start a website. Within a week I had a thousand followers and a new love for the internet.

Molly: What a great idea! So on to tattoos. What was your first tattoo and what inspired you to get tattooed?

Mary: My first tattoo was a star I got when I was 16. Reading Andrew Parsons interview on Knives & Needles is making me think this is what a lot of people in our generation would answer. I wanted to get tattooed because my family did and still does mean the world to me. I wanted to make it permanent and have something that would remind me of that. So, I got the star to represent the 5 people in my family. I went to some seedy place in downtown NYC and probably used a fake ID. It was less about art and more about being a rebel child than the tattoos that came after.

Molly: Haha! Who would you want a tattoo from if you could get tattooed by anyone right now? And what would you get?

Mary: Dave Wah at Stay Humble Tattoo Company, from Baltimore. The work he does is just fascinating. I would have him do my whole fruits & vegetables sleeve. Bright, vibrant veggies. Arugala, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Tomatoes, Avocados, Kale, Onions, all of it!

Molly: Food tattoos!! Do you ever go to any tattoo conventions? If so, which ones and did you have fun?

Mary: I went to the Baltimore Tattoo Convention last year. It was a blast, but short lived. I was only there for about an hour. I’m hoping to go to the NYC Tattoo Convention in March.

Molly: Who else do you admire in the tattoo industry?

Mary: Trevor Friedrich, who did my side. A truly multi-talented human being. Ashley Thomas, from Atomic Tattoo in Austin, TX. She’s vega and rad. I’d love to sit in her chair and just shoot the shit and talk life.

Molly: Do you own any tattoo magazines?

Mary: I don’t. Mainly because I have the worst Wanderlust. My address is ever changing. I’ll pick up Inked every once in a while.

Molly: A girl after my own heart! What style of tattooing do you love the most?

Mary: I love black and grey portraits. With the exception of the vibrant vegetable sleeve, I would cover my whole body with black and grey tattoos.

Molly: Any vegan tips for beginners?

Mary: Teach yourself how to cook. A lot of vegans get frustrated because its inconvenient to eat out. Teaching yourself how to cook will not only make it easier for you to transition into a vegan lifestyle, but you’ll also find yourself getting creative and you feel a sense of pride with every meal. Your kitchen becomes your art studio.

Enjoy and try it out, you just might be pleasantly surprised at how “unvegan” it tastes!

Salted Caramel Apple Pumpkin Pie

Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 Tbs. organic granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup vegan margarine

2 Tbs. vegetable shortening

3 Tbs. cold water

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 cup organic pumpkin pie puree

3 Tbs. all purpose flour

2 Tbs. organic light brown sugar

1 Tbs. organic granulated sugar

1/4 cup canned coconut milk

1 Tbs. vanilla extract

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Apple Pie Filling

2 medium granny smith apples

2 medium pink lady apples

1/2 Tbs. lemon juice

1/3 cup organic brown sugar

1 1/2 Tbs. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

pinch of salt

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup canned coconut milk

3 Tbs. vegan margarine

1 tsp. sea salt, coarse

Pie Crust

1) Mix flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl until well combined.

2) Add in margarine and shortening while you mix it all together with your hands. Keep kneeding until all ingredients are crumbled.

3) Slowly add cold water 1 Tbs. at a time and mix with your hands until dough is a ball.

4) Wrap the ball in saran wrap and put it in the refridgerator while you work on the pie fillings.

Method

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1) Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl until combined.

2) Set bowl aside.

Apple Pie Filling

1) Peel, core and thinly slice apples. If you have a mandoline, use it! Thin apples make the perfect filling. Place the apples in a large bowl with the lemon juice.

2) Add brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg & salt.

3) Gently toss until apples are coated.

4) Set bowl aside.

Bring it all together

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2) Take pie crust out of the refrigerator and roll out onto a floured countertop with a rolling pin.

3) Once the size of the outer rim of your pie dish, place the dough in the pan. When you get the edges, make sure there is no dough hanging over, or on the sides. Keeping your crust on the inside of the pan and off the rim, keeps the crust from burning.

4) Pour pumpkin pie filling into crust and smooth out until even.

5) Neatly place apples on top of pumpkin filling.

6) Place in oven and bake for 40 minutes. (Some of you may be confused here because on my instagram video, I poured the caramel sauce in right before this step. After making it a second time, I feel the best outcome is making the sauce right before serving.)

7) Let cool overnight, or at least 5 hours.

8) Once chilled, proceed to Salted Caramel sauce directions.

Salted Caramel Sauce

1) In a non-stick skillet, combine sugar and water over medium-low heat and mix until the sugar is dissolved.

2) Increse heat and bring to a boil, without stirring.

3) Boil until the liquid is a deep amber color, 5-7 minutes.

4) Remove the sugar from the heat and carefully whisk in coconut milk, vegan margaine and salt.

5) Pour in a heat safe dish and let cool for 5-10 minutes.

6) Once cooled, top pie with your favorite ice cream (mines Vanilla!) and pour caramel sauce over it, and ENJOY!

Thank you Mary, this looks amazing!

Don’t forget to post your finished product on instagram, facebook or twitter and tag me in it when you’re done! I’d love to see your creations and what you think. @nomyourself or @knivesandneedles !